You're Gonna Have To Get through Me First

Lorrie put the finishing touches on all twelve of her Oil Kaleidoscopes by inserting the mirrors and then soldering an clear glass eyepiece at the back of the scope.  Most of that eyepiece is covered by foil and then with lead which leaves a small triangular opening that lines up perfectly into the mirrors so that you only see the colorful oil wand when you look into the scope.  

Let me just say that the twelve of these certainly make an impressive set!

 

 

 

 

Barbara's Tiffany inspired Bird and Flowers Panel is the sweetest thing! I've always said all patterns have a certain size that they should be made to. Enlarging a small window to a much larger size always looks awkward and putting too many pieces into a small window just looks cluttered. At only 7 inches tall this is the perfect pieces-to-size ratio thus making this as charming as it could possibly be.

 

Sheri is the first out of the gate with a completed Alligator Santa. Placing Santa hats on just about any animal (especially animals native to Southern Louisiana) are a definite crowd pleaser and this is no exception!

 

 

 

 

Let threw this quick and easy Bordered Cross together quicker than you can say 'Peace Be With You'! It's simple and to the point which makes this a definite keeper.

 

 

 

Cindy managed to complete four Heart/Cross Suncatchers but I only got pictures of three of them because I ended up taking the picture of the blue heart twice by mistake. Leave it to me to manage to mix up just four suncatchers!

 

 

 

Let also managed to finish work on a Christmas Tree Suncatcher that she made from assorted clear scraps that she had hanging around. We love to see scrap get used especially when the completed piece turns out as nice as this. 

 

 

And Let didn't stop there. Her latest Teardrop Flower is different from her first one only in terms of the color of the flower. It still features the iridized green ribbon set within the now iconic Let teardrop shape. 

Mimi began a 3D Beveled Cross repair last week and finished it this week.  Normally we don't cover repairs but since this was a complete disassemble I think it's worth viewing.  The original version was done with an odd thin silver plated channel but now it's been copper foiled which has made it probably twice as sturdy (or even more) than it was before.   Also, I wanted to post this because it's a great design!

 

Mary Grace set to work immediately on a new window that she's making for her back Doctor. It's hard to see right now but there's a white spine there in between the two healing hands. I have to say that I'm VERY impressed with the amount of work that MG achieved this week. She's says she's feeling better and it's nice to have her back to her old self again!

 

  

 

Paula has KPop in her blood as she makes Derpy  from KPop Demon Hunters.   He's a lot of work but Paula has that mouth, tongue and teeth cut out and ground so perfectly that the rest of this should be child's play for her.

  

 

 

Linda L has a series of small 3D Dragonflies that she's working on.   She also took home a Mickey and Minnie Mouse pattern that she'll soon begin and let me tell you that it's a M&M Window the likes of which you've never seen before.

 

 

Judy continues cutting glass for her large Teepee Suncatcher.   I have a very strong premonition that that this will be all cut out when she returns and even partially ground.

 

  

 

 

Keri resumed work on her large Stitch suncatcher but by the end of the night she just didn't have enough time to apply the paint that finishes this little guy off. He currently looks blind but that will be rectified in our next post.

 

 

They may be hard to see right now but Lorrie is also working on a pair of very large Cockatiels(?) that will mount and hang inside of metal hoops at right angles from the hoops thus turning this into a 3D project.

 

 

 

 

Bee is grinding the background pieces to her Dragonfly Window and making excellent progress. She's pretty much pinned down what glass she'll use for the wings and it's going to be a beautiful white iridised glass with plenty of subtle yet obvious shades of pink, green, yellow and blue shining underneath.

 

  

 

 

Sheri liked Let's Cross so much that she began one of her own this week. There are only 12 thin strips left to go for her to finish this off.

 

  

 

With the leaves and the background to her Magnolia window almost entirely cut out Tracey will next cut the scant few pieces that had broken while she cut them. After that she'll be grinding away at this marvelous window. When Tracey said that she wanted to make the round magnolia we spent a good half an hour looking for the pattern before I remembered that I had put it on the side so that I could eventually make it for our next show. This is another window whose size and piece count match perfectly.

 

 

 

Susan D toiled away on her next six Dragonfly spoons and left class with each of them being cut, ground and foiled. You only see four here but rest assured there are two others stored safely in plastic baggies just waiting to be soldered.

 

  

 

Susan R finished all of the grinding and all of the foiling on her multi-colored Autumn Leaf.  Soldering will begin next week and I can already say that this is going to look spectacular when it's up and off of the work table. 

  

 

Mary wasn't able to finish grinding her Eye Of The Tiger Window while he was at home but that's nothing to worry or fret about.   It's not easy to find time to work on stained glass during the week and that's why our students show up so regularly to our classes.   Of course we always manage to have a great time while we work the class away as Mary's laughter throughout the night well proved.

 

 

 

Martha's classy looking Art Deco Lady got her final border attached and Martha is now soldering it. I think the minimal color scheme is wonderful and I can't wait to see this one hanging up.

 

  

 

Cheryl is back to work on her Mr. Bingle Panel and she now has all of it cut save for the background and borders.  I'm going to insist that she tack this together before cutting those last few remaining pieces just so that things don't get twisted out of shape.

  

  

June's Cat is only missing one piece of glass but rather than filling that in she's begun foiling everything so that she can tack this together and then simply place a color of her choice behind it to fill in that missing piece. It looks to me as though that will be done when she comes back in since she only has a few pieces left to foil. 

  

Lastly, Betty got another Toy soldier almost completely finished but wasn't able to get the hook on it before she had to leave. I can guarantee that we'll see that Soldier and maybe two others completed in our next post.

So there you have it, another week succinctly spelled out in stunning detail by yours truely!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks 

Life's A Big Orgy

Cindy's Golfer Window is complete and on par with the best of any golf window that I've ever seen.   I'd even consider it to be a hole in one! 

 

 

 

Linda L's Fractured Background is a multi-colored delight. The bevel in the center proudly displays a Mantra worth living by and her work on this was top notch. I know she said that she really wasn't into making this but I saw her smile when it hanging up with some back light behind it.

 

 

Lorrie's Birds on a Wire are 100% finished and they are a striking piece of stained glass. You can never lose with this design (or similar birds strung together) but people rarely notice just how much work is involved. Cout those pieces and be impressed.

Lorrie also made this Large Flower suncatcher with the help of her daughter and she really liked the assembly line that the two of them formed while making this. I think we can all agree that it paid off handsomely!

 

Let completed her Flower and Ribbon teardrop suncatcher with ease. We can almost always count on seeing a finished piece of stained glass by Let because it's practically a weekly occurrence.

 

Betty's first Toy Solder looks marvelous and she really did a bang up job on all aspects of creating him.  Her only problem is determining which is the front of the soldier and which is the back but you know what?  It really doesn't matter since she won't have any control as to how it is hung/hanged after it is purchased.

 

 

Paula was kind enough to send me a picture of her completed Ironman Suncatcher.  I do believe that Tony Start would be quite proud of the work Paula did on his new Armor! 

 

Judy has begun working on a large Teepee Suncatcher.  Or is it a wigwam?   This is something I'll have to look up. It's a Teepee!  FYI, a wigwam is a rounded or oval-shaped Native American dwelling made of poles covered with bark or mats, while a teepee is a conical tent made from animal skins over a frame of long poles. 

 

 

 

Sheri has the first Alligator Santa started and she almost completely finished him in this class.  Look to see him completed when she comes back in next week.

 

 

Kandise got her Camera all ground and then whisked it home with her where she hopes to foil all of the pieces. She's planning to attach two small chains at the bottom of the camera where a picture frame will hang to give the finished camera a very personal touch. We still haven't figured exactly how to affix a photo into the said frame but I'm currently working it out in my mind. 

 

 

 

Keri's Stitch Suncatcher is all ground as of this class and she's taken him home to hopefully foil so she can tack him together upon her return. If she finds the time to foil these pieces over the holiday weekend I see no reason why this can't be completed in time for our next blog post. Her work as one of our newest students is amazing!

 

 

 

Barbara's small Tiffany styled Flower Panel is just about ready to become a window hanging. After getting her background cut, ground, foiled and tacked together Barbara was able to pick out a border and get that cut and ground as well. Even if she doesn't have the border foiled when she comes back in I can say without a doubt that this will still be completed upon her return.

 

 

 

 

Cindy is working on new Christmas Hearts to end the year. She keeps a detailed log of which teacher has received what Heart in years previous so that the recipients can assemble a complete collection without the fear of receiving repeating hearts.

  

 

MiMi put aside her lamp for a bit while she repairs this 3D Beveled Cross.  Since there wasn't much left of it that hadn't collapsed the best way to fix it was to rip it apart completely and then rebuild it from scratch.  Tonight she disassembled it, washed all of the pieces and now has all of them foiled which means that this will go back together next week.

 

 

 

It's official- Susan R has all of her Autumn Leaf cut and ground!   I know that I've said it before but I'm going to say it again.  I'm proud of her work on this and her drive to see it through.  The rest of the work on this will be child's play for Susan.

 

 

June has almost all of her Multi-colored Cat cut and ground and she even has the head of the cat foiled.   It won't be long now.  I showed her a Multi-colored Dog that I saw on the internet and it turns out that her husband Peter had also shown the dog to her.  She told me the same thing she told him-- "No way".

 

Lastly, Betty also made three more of her Cat Suncatchers which sell as fast as she can make them.  Alas, I didn't get a picture of them.  Also, Lorrie soldered the last three stands for her Oil Kaleidoscopes which means that next week she will begin the final eye pieces for each of the wands.

And that would be all there is that's fit to print this week.

Sayonara!

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks

See, For Me That's A Possibility!

Paula's Spiderman is easily recognizable by anyone who's over the age of five.  For the past 20 years he's been everywhere as his movies are always making money.  Paula isn't the first student to render him in glass but this one stands out due to the detail in the webs on his face.   All in all it's a fantastic likeness! 

 

Cindy finished her Cardinal Cross and it's ready for delivery.   It's wonderful that so many or our students are selling things to help offset the cost of continuing their hobby. 

 

 

Cheryl's latest Wedding Box looks fantastic and hopefully it will steal the show when all of the wedding gifts are opened! I see no reason why it wouldn't.

 

 

 

Susan D completed the first of five of her Dragonfly Spoons and the other four won't be far behind this one as you'll see a little further along in this post.

 

 

Betty's Christmas Bird (the first of three others) is now complete. There are a lot of pieces in this small piece which means that making these takes both time AND patience but Betty has proven herself to be up to the task. Having it look this good certainly helps motivate her to get the others completed.

 

 Let's Cross was made from all clear iridized glass with straight cuts that line up spectacularly.  All that precision makes it hang nice and straight as well!

 

Barbara is working on miniscule Bird and Flowers window that reminds me very much of something that Tiffany would have made back in the day.  Here's a fun fact for you: Barbara's 'window' measures only 6inches high and contains 36 pieces. My oh my!

 

 

Keri has begun work on a large Stitch Suncatcher. In just one evening (and not even a complete evening) she managed to trace out the pattern onto poster board and then cut out all of the glass for this cute little guy. Sweet!

 

  

  

Kandise is another fast worker who managed to trace her project pattern onto poster board, cut the pattern pieces out with scissors and then got almost all of her Camera cut out of glass as well! I'm going to show her how to get a large whole cut into the center of the lens without any lead lines leading up to it.  More on that next week. 

   

 

Julie tacked her Hamsa Hand together and then got an arched background cut out as well.  Once that was all tacked together she got the straight strips cut for her  first border.  That's a productive class for sure!

  

 

Betty currently has three more Cat Suncatcher ready for whiskers along with a new Christmas Toy Soldier Suncatcher that we've not seen before. This entire work board is simplicity at its finest.

 

Tracey made a lot of progress this week as she managed to get almost all of the petals cut out for her Magnolia. Let me tell you that the glass she picked did NOT want to work with us because those long thin pieces just wanted to break in all of the wrong places. But in the end Tracey won and I know that the green for the leaves will cut far easier.

 

 

 

Let has a Christmas Poinsettia teardrop in the works and if you think it looks as though she's only got a few pieces left to wrap in foil before she solders it, well, you'd be correct! 

 

  

 

Cindy's Golf Window was all tacked together and after a little agonizing she settled on a green glass with some wisps of brown throughout it for her  border.  I think it's a perfect match and it really brought the window to life when compared to the light amber that Cindy was originally leaning towards.

 

 

 

Martha's Art Deco Lady is looking particularly spectacular. The head band on the woman will be done in all lead and after I showed Martha how to foil the front side she immediately did the second side herself and tacked everything together. Next she'll add the final border and do some soldering.

 

  

 

Susan R's Autumn Leaf is very close to being completely cut and ground.  She has really shown off her skills with this project along with her excellent color choices.  When it comes to making this leaf it's no walk in the park, but Susan is working both determinedly and steadily through its creation.

  

 

 

Bee's Dragonfly Window is really coming together nicely.  She's going to cut down the number of pieces in the wings and that will be fine because there ARE a lot of pieces in them and it IS possible to over do things.   If she uses a textured glass it will help with the illusion of them looking like actual dragonfly wings.

 

  

 

Mary Grace resumed the work on her small and somewhat delicate Nativity Scene which features a beveled stable whose roof sits perilously atop two small upright bevels. The hinge point that this creates is one of the worst I've ever seen so we needed to come up with a way to sturdy this structure. First we added some brass channel all around the stable which helped a lot but the addition of wire buried in the solder of the inside arch made this a sound as can be. Where there's a will there's a way.

 

  

 

Here's a look at the other four Dragonfly Spoons that Susan D is currently working on.  As you can see she's got these just about ready for solder.

  

  

Paula's Ironman head looks particularly masculine in all of that red and gold armor. She's doing another great job on this and it will certainly be completed before she comes back to class since it will be gifted to it's owner on Sunday. Paula says she'll send me a completed picture so I can share it here in our next post.

  

  

Linda L's got all of her glass cut, ground, and attached  for her Fractured Window which featured a square bevel in the center with the words "Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much" inscribed on it.   She hopes to be soldering this while at home so who knows how far along this will be when Linda comes back in.

 

Even though Mary was unable to work on her Tiger Eye Window while at home she still managed to get it all ground while in class. She then began foiling each of her pieces and got pretty far on that as well. You may notice that there's a small piece missing along the top edge. We will fill that in after she's foiled everything and tacked this all together.

 

 

 

Lorrie is now extremely far along on her fleet of twelve Oil Wand Kaleidoscopes. She spent this class assembling the stands for the scopes and got eight of them completely assembled, soldered and washed and waxed. Next week she'll finish off the stands, insert all of her mirrors and work on the final eyepieces that will complete these.

 

  

 

Jan dropped in and picked up her pattern for a Sweet and Simple Heart panel that will be displayed on a small easel which will reside on a table rather than hanging in a window.   Glass choices are limited when making something that will have an easel or a wall behind it because you don't want to use anything too transparent to see through the window.  We'll see what Jan picks when she returns.

 

Forever persistently yours,

Paul

Bayou Salé GlassWorks